S4 E18: The Modern Pagan Prayers Project | A Southern Dialogue with Lucia & Gwyneth

What is the Modern Pagan Prayers Project? In this episode, I talk to Lucía and Gwyneth about how they came together during the pandemic for this project, why pagan prayer is important, the use of poetry in prayer, and how they go about writing prayers. The first book of the project A Wound in Time, is heavily influenced by the pandemic, and we'll chat about that as well, and you won't want to miss the exceptional readings of 5 prayers throughout the episode by Imogen Smith.

OUR GUESTS
Lucía Moreno-Velo is a Pantheist who believes Pagan theology can contribute to the conversation on justice and climate change. She lives with her wife and their two children in Madrid, Spain.

Spiritually non-tribal, Gwyneth Box writes in many genres and is an award-winning poet. She leads workshops, mentors non-fiction writers and poets, and appears regularly at open mikes and on the radio.

Lucía and Gwyneth are both writers. Lucía’s day job is medical translator. Gwyneth does copywriting and commercial translation. But they are also both creative writers and met at the Madrid Writers Critique Group some 15 years ago. This led to them collaborating on several bilingual children’s books.

They mostly lost touch when Gwyneth moved away from Madrid and then to the UK. So it had been nearly 10 years of very sporadic contact when Lucía contacted her out of the blue in April 2020, asking her to use her poetry skills to help her with a blessing for those dying from Covid.

Lucía realised she still had more she wanted to say and decided to write a short collection of prayers - A Wound in Time - which focused on the pandemic. Again, she asked for Gwyneth’s assistance, but Gwyneth soon found that editing wasn’t enough - she needed to get her hands dirty and started writing for herself. And so it became a collaboration which has grown into the Modern Pagan Prayers project - three books and counting!

Gwyneth:
Website: gwynethbox.com
IG: @gwyneth.box
Twitter: @gwynethbox

Lucía:
Twitter: @willechowithla1
IG: @willechowithlaughter

Modern Pagan Prayers website: https://modernpaganprayers.com
(you’ll find links there to buy the books in paperback and ebook)

CONTACT MELA
www.podpage.com/belle-book-candle
FB & IG @bellebookcandlesc
YT: Belle, Book & Candle
Or, buy Mela a coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/bellebookcandle

CREDITS
My dad wrote the theme song. We sing it together.
Thanks to my husband for his contributions.
Thank you to our guests.
Thank you to Imogen Smith for the beautiful readings of the prayers.
Prayers are from A Wound in Time by Lucía Moreno-Velo and Gwyneth Box.

Original Broadcast: 12.23.21